Students excel at RoboCupJunior Nationals in Montreal

A contingent of 34 students from St. Andrew’s and St. Anne’s brought back quite a few wins and some good cheer from the 2024 RoboCupJunior Quebec Canadian Robotics Competition on April 19 and 20. 

The students – 15 from SAC in Grades 6-8 and 10-12, and 19 Grade 7s from SAS – boarded a bus for Montreal on Thursday and returned to Aurora on Sunday. In between, they competed well and had a great time during the two-day competition, reported Meera Balendran, SAC’s Maker Educator Specialist, 

“It was quite special watching our Upper School teams helping out our Middle School teams,” Meera said. 
“The soccer team had an intense tournament where they initially lost to the Crestwood Lions but made a comeback in the bracket and beat them in the semi-finals, with many St. Andrew's and St. Anne's students cheering them on!”

Here is a list of the results:

• The SAC Upper School Soccer team placed first in Lightweight Soccer and the SuperTeam Challenge
• One SAC Middle School Rescue Line team placed first in the SuperTeam Challenge 
• One SAC Middle School Rescue Line team placed second in the individual event
• One SAC Upper School Rescue Line team placed third in the individual event
• One SAS Middle School RoboParty team placed first in the SuperTeam Challenge
• One SAS Middle School RoboParty team placed second in the individual event

On the bus ride back, the St. Andrew's students were coding, 3D modelling, and planning improvements for their robots. They are keen and eager to compete again in the RoboCupJunior 2024 Qualifying Event being held at St. Andrew's College on Wednesday, April 24.

Along with Meera, the trip was accompanied by SAC computer science teacher, Benjamin Lawrence, SAS teachers, Emilia Macdonald and Cassandra Postma, and SAS Associate Director, Middle School, Janine Franklin.